HIS EYES SPARKLING WITH AMUSEMENT

 
Have you ever heard of a horse in a house? Well, in our life with Baba, the impossible became possible. One day I heard someone calling my name, "Mehera, Mehera come quickly. Sheba is in your bedroom!"

Sheba had climbed the steps up to the verandah and had walked into my room. Horses can climb up steps, but they cannot easily climb down. It is very dangerous if a horse injures his legs, so now I had to quickly figure out how to get Sheba out of the house.

I will never forget that day — my brain really started working. I remembered that the kitchen had only two steps to the outside. If I could guide Sheba out of our bedroom through the dining room very very slowly, without scaring her, maybe we could get her out through the kitchen door.

Remember, we girls had to handle Sheba ourselves there were no men around to help us. Soon Baba would be returning from the mandali. There was no time to waste.

We removed all the chairs from the dining room so that Sheba would not bump into anything. Slowly, I tried to coax her around the dining room table into the kitchen and hopefully out the kitchen door. But Sheba refused to go down those two steps.

Someone suggested that one of us push her from behind and another pull her from the front. Still Sheba wouldn't budge. Then I got an idea. I'd stand outside, in front of Sheba, and tempt her with a bowl of milk. Maybe the milk would entice her. I covered the steps with hay, thinking if Sheba didn't see them maybe she wouldn't be scared. But no success.

Baba came at 5:30 p.m. and was surprised to find Sheba in the kitchen. Baba jokingly gestured, "A horse in the house is too much. Whoever heard of such a thing!"

Baba listened intently as we anxiously explained what had happened. Baba suggested we call the vet from the Government Stable. We did, and he told us that the only solution was to carry the horse outside. He promised to send four men from their stables with strong rope.

Just as the men arrived at our gate, Sheba had a change of mind! She stepped down! To this day we'll never know what prompted Sheba — the milk ... the pushing and pulling ... whatever it was, we were relieved to see her outside.

Baba silently shared in our laughter, His eyes sparkling with amusement at Sheba's mischievous pranks.